Slide-in rack for a hard-disk drive with a “hot-replace” capability

ABSTRACT

A slide-in module for hard disk drives which enables a “hot-replace” function that assures continuous motions, a precise guidance when replacing hard disk drives and an all around shielding in the built-in condition. The slide-in module includes ejectors laterally inserted into the front, a shielding plate behind the front and contact rails laterally contactable from the outside at side walls having angle pieces that are electrically connectable to grounding surfaces of a hard disk drive arranged within the slide-in module.

The present invention is directed to a slide-in module for hard diskdrives which enables a “hot-replace” function.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART

High-grade modern data processing systems currently assume, and modernsoftware requires, that disk drives can be exchanged and replaced duringoperation of the system. This means that screw-fastening assemblies areforegone and simpler [sic ] disk replacement systems implemented. Thesensitive mechanism of high-capacity drives does not allow jerkymovements even when replacing a disk, such movements would damage thehard disks. Imprecise guidances destroy the components of plug-typeconnections as well. Further, all around shielding deteriorates thefunctionability of the hard disk drives.

The publication U.S. Pat. No. 5,277,615 discloses a slide-in module forhard disk drives which enables a “hot-replace” function thatfundamentally allows continuous motions upon insertion or removal of theslide-in module.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is therefore an object of the present invention to specify a slide-inmodule for hard disk drives which enables a “hot-replace” function whichallows for, continuous movements, which assures precise guidance whenreplacing hard disk drives, and which provides all around shielding inthe built-in condition.

The slide-in module can be precisely guided in a shaft. Ejectors allow acontinuous movement when pulling or plugging the slide-in module.Lateral angle pieces connectable to ground and shielding plates thatshield the front of the module enable the hermetic sealing of the harddisk drives in the built-in condition.

Entry bevels for axle projections of the ejectors enable the simple,snappable insertion of the ejectors into the front of the housing of theslide-in module. Hooks implemented at leg ends of the ejectors assure adependable hooking at allocated parts. Guide pins at a flat module fixedto the stern wall increase the precision of the guidance of the slide-inmodule.

More specifically, in an embodiment of the present invention, a slide-inmodule for hard disk drives is provided which includes: a housing havinga floor, two side walls, a stem wall and a substantially open front end;a pair of substantially U-shaped ejectors attached to the front end ofthe housing, each ejector formed with a pair of legs and a web partdisposed therebetween wherein the web parts are adjacently positionednear a center of the front end and their respective leg pairs extendoutwardly therefrom, each leg respectively having an axle projectionattached thereto wherein a pair of axle projections on an ejector engageappertaining front end recesses of the housing to form a rotational axisfor the ejector such that the ejectors may be outwardly opened inwindow-like fashion with respect to the housing; a pair of springfingers, each spring finger attached to one web part of an ejector forengagement with a closure recess on the housing when the ejector isclosed with respect to the housing, each spring finger including anoutwardly projecting catch nose for operational engagement with a humanappendage wherein the respective spring finger may be disengaged withthe closure recess and the ejector opened; a front shielding platepositioned behind the front end of the housing, the front shieldingplate including lateral arm parts extending over the side walls of thehousing and being fixedly engaged within side recesses in the sidewalls, the front shielding plate having an upper edge with upwardlyprojecting contact humps and having a lower edge with downwardlyprojecting contact humps which extend through lower recesses in thefloor of the housing; at least one stern wall supporting edge memberextending from a rear recess in the stern wall; at least one floorsupporting edge member extending from a rear edge of the floor; a flatmodule positioned over the rear recess of the stern wall and between theat least one stern wall supporting edge member and the at least onefloor supporting edge member; and a pair of contact rails, each contactrail attached adjacent a side wall of the housing for lateral outsidecontact, each contact rail further including an angle piece projectinginto the housing proximate to the floor for electrical connection to agrounding surface of a hard disk drive arranged inside the housing.

In an embodiment, the slide-in module further includes entry bevelsformed adjacent the front end recesses of the housing, the legs of theejectors being compressed so as to guide the axle projections along theentry bevels prior to engagement with the front end recesses.

In an embodiment, the slide-in module further includes a hook memberformed at an end of each leg of the ejectors wherein the hook memberprojects outwardly beyond the side wall when the ejector is in a closedposition and projects into an interior of the housing when the ejectoris in an open position, and wherein the hook member engages acooperating holder of a drive shaft when the housing is inserted intothe shaft and the ejector moved into the closed position.

In an embodiment, the slide-in module further includes attachmentmembers for securing the flat module to the stem wall.

Additional features and advantages of the present invention aredescribed in, and will be apparent from, the Detailed Description of thePreferred Embodiments and the Drawings.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows a slide-in module of the present invention in aperspective, overall view.

FIG. 2 shows the slide-in module according to FIG. 1 in an explodedview.

FIG. 3 shows a tower-like arrangement composed of a plurality ofslide-in modules according to FIG. 1 in a side view.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The slide-in module shown in FIG. 1 includes a drawer-like housing 1which is handled like a drawer. The slide-in module acts in a metallicbox that is not shown in detail in the FIG. 1. Except for the frontside, the metallic box includes a shielding wall on all sides. Whereinthe module is thus shielded toward all sides by the metallic box.

The shielding of the front side of the module occurs within the slide-inmodule. The shielding of the front side is accomplished with a frontshielding plate 2 that is arranged behind the front of the housing 1.Further particulars about the front shielding plate 2 shall followlater.

Ejectors 3, 4 that are laterally pushed into the front side of themodule are arranged at the front of the housing 1, a first thereof beinga left ejector 3 and a second being a right ejector 4.

A recess 5 is provided in the stern wall of the housing 1. Supportingedges 6 and 7 are allocated to the recess 5. The allocation isestablished in such a way that a flat module 8 having a base edge 9 canbe first introduced and raised up between the supporting edges 6 and 7obliquely from outside the housing 1 through the recess 5 and then canbe fixed to the stern wall against parts 10.

At the lateral walls of the module, the housing 1 includes contact rails11 have which are laterally contactable from the outside. Contact rail11 have angle pieces 12 (FIG. 2) projecting into the housing 1 close tothe floor of the module. Angle pieces 12 can be electrically connectedto grounding surfaces of a hard disk drive which may be arranged insidethe housing 1.

Some details mentioned in conjunction with FIG. 1 can be more clearlyseen in FIG. 2. The ejectors 3 and 4 are fashioned U-shaped in frontview. Hooks 13, 14 are arranged at their respective leg ends. Further,axle projections 15, 16 are arranged in pairs at the legs of theirrespective ejectors 3 and 4 in the region of the leg ends. Uponinsertion of the ejectors 3, 4 into the housing 1, the axle projections15, 16 engage appertaining recesses 17 at the housing 1. The axleprojections 15, 16 act as rotational axes in the recesses 17. The effectis such that the ejectors 3, 4 can be opened window-like wherein webs18, 19 are movable toward the front and outside of the module proceedingfrom the middle of the front. The result thereof is that the hooks 13,14 arranged at the leg ends are movable from a position (see FIG. 1)projecting beyond the lateral dimensions of the housing 1 into aposition arranged within the outside dimensions of the housing 1. Afurther result is that back edges 20, 21 of the hooks 13, 14 arereplaced by salient edges 22, 23 laterally projecting beyond the outsidedimensions of the housing 1 at the tips of the leg ends of the U-shapedejectors 3, 4.

The webs 18, 19 exhibit such a width, depth and recess that at leasthuman index fingers can be engaged behind the webs 18, 19.

Above the webs 18, 19, the ejectors 3, 4 include spring fingers 24, 25that project beyond the front of the module. Catch noses are arranged onthe cover surfaces of the spring fingers 24, 25 for engagement inrecesses arranged inside the housing 1 in an interlocked position. Formoving the ejectors 3, 4 out of the interlocked position, the springfingers 24, 25 are pressed down; for example, with the human thumb. Thespring fingers 24, 25 thus assume a lowered position, as a resultwhereof the catch noses slide out of the appertaining recesses in thehousing 1.

The front shielding plate 2 arranged behind the front of the housing 1includes lateral arm parts 26 that are arranged gripping over thesidewalls of the housing 1. Coming from outside the housing 1, parts ofthe arm parts 26 engage recesses at the sidewalls of the housing 1.These parts thereby snap resiliently into the recesses and thus fix thefront shielding plate 2. As a result of the resilient snap-in mechanism,the front shielding plate 2 can be easily released and removed.

Contact humps 29, 30 are formed at an upper edge 27 and a lower edge 28of the front shielding plate 2, respectively. Recesses are provided inthe floor of the housing 1 for the contact humps 30 at the under edge 28of the front shielding plate 2, wherein the contact humps 30 projectthrough these recesses and beyond the outside dimensions of the housing1. In particular, the contact humps 30 arranged at the lower edge 28 ofthe front shielding plate 2 are resiliently formed.

In the arrangement shown in FIG. 3, wherein a plurality of slide-inmodules are arranged above one another in tower-like fashion, contacthumps 30 at the lower edge 28 of an upper slide-in module contact thecontact humps 29 at the upper edge 27 of a lower slide-in module. InFIG. 3, contact point 31 references the described location.

When the uppermost front shielding plate 2 of an uppermost slide-inmodule is contacted by corresponding contact humps connected to aslide-in module housing and when the contact humps 30 at the lower edge28 of a lowest slide-in module of an arrangement according to FIG. 3again contact the slide-in module housing, a complete shielding at thefront side of the slide-in modules is established. A further improvementof the shielding is achieved when the arm parts 26 of the frontshielding plates 2 are likewise laterally contacted. When springsconnected to the slide-in module housing also contact the contact rails11 of the slide-in modules, the hard disk drives arranged in theslide-in modules can be grounded. The grounding occurs via the anglepieces 12 that can be screwed to ground parts of the hard disk driveswith screws 32.

Entry bevels 33 for the axle projections 15, 16 of the ejectors 3, 4 areprovided for the lateral insertion of the ejectors 3, 4. The legs of theU-shaped ejectors 3, 4 are brought into a compressed position by thebevels before they engage the appertaining recesses 17 at the housing 1.

The hooks 13, 14 at the leg ends of the ejectors 3, 4 include undercutedges 34 with which an improved gripping effect is achieved.

Guide pins 35 which are outwardly directed relative to the housing 1 andparallel to their insertion direction that improve the guidanceproperties of the slide-in module and can be provided at the flat module8 fixed to the stern wall. Screws 36 can thereby fix the flat module 8to the stern wall as well as hold the guide pins 35 in one work step.Advantageously, the guide pins 35 are in communication with an edgeboardconnector 37, so that a precise guidance for the contacts of theedgeboard connector 37 is established.

Another edgeboard connector 38 maybe provided via which a hard diskdrive arranged in the slide-in module is contacted. The electricalconnection toward the outside occurs via the flat module 8 that connectsthe two edgeboard connectors 37 and 38 to one another.

A few assembly steps are explained in greater detail below;

The ejectors 3, 4 are laterally inserted into the front of the housing1. To that end, the parts are inserted such that they automatically havetheir axle projections 15, 16 coming to lie next to the entry bevels 33of the housing 1. The legs of the ejectors 3, 4 are pressed up or downby pulling the ejectors 3, 4 transversely toward the middle. As a resultthereof, spring surfaces 39 (FIG. 2) of the housing 1 are bent towardthe back. The path for snapping the axle projections 15, 16 into therecesses 17 thereby becomes free. With the centering of the axleprojections 15, 16 in the recesses, the legs of the ejectors 3, 4 areagain pressed apart. The spring surfaces 39 can thereby return towardthe front into their quiescent position. The legs of the ejectors 3, 4can now no longer be pressed together. An unintentional disengagement isthus no longer possible.

Pressing on the front surfaces of the webs 18, 19 of the ejectors 3, 4effects a snapping of the catch noses on the cover surfaces of thespring fingers 24, 25 in the housing 1.

For assembling the front shielding plate 2, the arm parts 26 are bentapart and brought down over the sidewalls of the housing 1. A hooking ofthe front shielding plate 2 into the lateral openings of the housing 1is achieved by pressing the arm parts 26 together.

For mounting the flat module 8, the flat module 8 is brought intoposition between the supporting edges 6, 7 obliquely from behind. Byperpendicularly raising the flat module 8, the two screws 36 can beguided through correspondingly arranged holes from within the housing 1.Screwing the two guide pins 35 onto the two screws 36 secures the flatmodule 8.

For mounting the contact rails 11, a hard disk drive is placed into thehousing 1 from above. By displacement thereof toward the back, themulti-pole plug parts of the hard disk drive and flat module 8 areconnected to one another. Both contact rails are subsequently laterallypushed through, for example, slots of the housing 1. The ground contactof the hard disk drive is made planar to the outsides by flanging harddisk drive and angle pieces 12 of the contact rails 11 together with thescrews 32.

The following is with respect to the insertion of the slide-in moduleinto a drive shaft:

The ejectors 3, 4 are first released. To this end, a thumb pressed ontothe front edges of the cover surfaces of the spring fingers 24, 25 andthe ejectors 3, 4 are to be opened window-like until they resideparallel to the slide-in direction. The entire slide-in module isplugged into the desired position of the drive shaft until the salientedges 22, 23 of the ejectors 3, 4 come to lie against a housing wall ofthe drive shaft. By swivelling the ejectors 3, 4, the hooks 13, 14engage cooperating holders at the drive shaft so that the slide-inmodule is pulled into the shaft with the hooks 13, 14. The leading guidepins 35 thereby position the plug connectors for the slide-in module anda platter of the back side. The ejectors 3, 4 that snap in lock theslide-in module in the drive shaft and end the jolt-free installation.The release of the slide-in module is only enabled by pressing on thefront edges of the cover surfaces of the spring fingers 24, 25 of theejectors 3, 4 with simultaneous swivelling of the ejectors 3, 4. Thepressing with the back edges 20, 21 at an inner housing part of thedrive shaft presses the slide-in module from the plug of the platter atthe back side.

In the installed condition of the slide-in module, the contact rails 11are contacted with springs to the sidewalls of the drive shaft and thusproduce a desired ground contact between the hard disk drive and thedrive shaft or, respectively, housing of the overall system.

In the installed condition of the slide-in module, the front shieldingplates 2 represent a closed, frontal shielding surface. As alreadymentioned, each front shielding plate 2 has six contact points. Ofthese, two contact points are produced by coinings on the upper sidewith the foot springs of the front shielding plate 2 lying thereabove inthe slide-in module lying thereabove. Each slide-in module thus has twoupper and two lower shield contacts. Moreover, the lateral surfaces ofthe arm parts 26 contact each from shielding plate 2 to a respectivespring in the drive shaft.

Although the present invention has been described with reference tospecific embodiments, those of skill in the art will recognize thatchanges may be made thereto without departing from the spirit and scopeof the invention as set forth in the hereafter appended claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A slide-in module for hard disk drives,comprising: a housing having a floor, two side walls, a stern wall and asubstantially open front end; a pair of substantially U-shaped ejectorsattached to the front end of the housing, each ejector formed with apair of legs and a web part disposed therebetween wherein the web partsare adjacently positioned near a center of the front end and theirrespective leg pairs extend outwardly therefrom, each leg respectivelyhaving an axle projection attached thereto wherein a pair of axleprojections on an ejector engage appertaining front end recesses of thehousing to form a rotational axis for the ejector such that the ejectorsmay be outwardly opened in window like fashion with respect to thehousing; a pair of spring fingers, each spring finger attached to oneweb part of an ejector for engagement with a closure recess on thehousing when the ejector is closed with respect to the housing, eachspring finger including an outwardly projecting catch nose foroperational engagement with a human appendage wherein the respectivespring finger may be disengaged with the closure recess and the ejectoropened; a front shielding plate positioned behind the front end of thehousing, the front shielding plate including lateral arm parts extendingover the side walls of the housing and being fixedly engaged within siderecesses in the side walls, the front shielding plate having an upperedge with upwardly projecting contact humps and having a lower edge withdownwardly projecting contact humps which extend through lower recessesin the floor of the housing; at least one stern wall supporting edgemember extending from a rear recess in the stern wall; at least onefloor supporting edge member extending from a rear edge of the floor; aflat module positioned over the rear recess of the stern wall andbetween the at least one stem wall supporting edge member and the atleast one floor supporting edge member; and a pair of contact rails,each contact rail attached adjacent a side wall of the housing forlateral outside contact, each contact rail further including an anglepiece projecting into the housing proximate to the floor for electricalconnection to a grounding surface of a hard disk drive arranged insidethe housing.
 2. A slide-in module as claimed in claim 1, furthercomprising: entry bevels formed adjacent the front end recesses of thehousing, the legs of the ejectors being compressed so as to guide theaxle projections along the entry bevels prior to engagement with thefront end recesses.
 3. A slide-in module as claimed in claim 1, furthercomprising: hook member formed at an end of each leg of the ejectorswherein the hook member projects outwardly beyond the side wall when theejector is in a closed position and projects into an interior of thehousing when the ejector is in an open position, and wherein the hookmember engages a cooperating holder of a drive shaft when the housing isinserted into the shaft and the ejector moved into the closed position.4. A slide-in module as claimed in claim 1, further comprising:attachment members for securing the flat module to the stern wall.